South Carolina football puts three on SEC Players of the Week list following domination of Texas A&M

On Saturday, South Carolina laid the smackdown to the 10th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies. The 44-20 beating in Williams-Brice Stadium moved the Gamecocks to 5-3 on the season ahead of the season’s final four games. Next, Carolina has to play a ranked Vanderbilt team on the road but not before a little well-earned recognition for a handful of USC stars.

A lot of Gamecocks played well on Saturday, but three performers stood out to those in the SEC offices. Kicker Alex Herrera, offensive lineman Torricelli Simpkins, and quarterback LaNorris Sellers picked up SEC Player of the Week honors. Both Simpkins and Sellers helped lead the best offensive performance of the season, and Herrera did his job to perfection.

Herrera, who went 3-3 on field goal attempts and 5-5 on PATs, was SEC Co-Special Teams Player of the Week. He also had a good day on kickoffs.

Simpkins graded out very well and helped lead a Gamecock front that allowed zero sacks and blocked for two 100-yard rushers (running back Rocket Sanders and also quarterback LaNorris Sellers). Before Saturday, A&M had not been held without a sack and had not surrendered a 100-yard rusher all season. He is the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.

Sellers, a redshirt freshman, had his best performance as a Gamecock. Accounting for 350 yards of offense, three total touchdowns, but no turnovers, he was spectacular for Shane Beamer’s squad. Because of his efforts, Sellers is the SEC Freshman of the Week.

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From the Southeastern Conference press release:

The Southeastern Conference announced the league’s Football Players of the Week for November 4.

November 04, 2024

SEC Football Players of the Week

OFFENSIVE

Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss

• Rewrote the Ole Miss record book in leading the Rebels to a resounding road win at Arkansas.
• Racked up an Ole Miss single-game record 562 yards of total offense (515 passing, 47 rushing), breaking Archie Manning’s 1969 record of 540 against Alabama.
• Completed 25-of-31 passes for 515 yards and six touchdowns, which broke the Ole Miss single-game yardage record while trying the TD record.
• Became the winningest starting quarterback of Ole Miss’ modern era since Archie Manning’s first start in 1968, passing Eli Manning and Bo Wallace for the record.
• Ended the game with 10,805 offensive yards in his Ole Miss career, which made him the Rebels’ all-time leader, and 12,201 in his overall career, making him one of four active FBS quarterbacks beyond 12K.
• Became the first QB in SEC history with 500 yards and six TDs passing against a conference opponent and second overall, alongside Missouri’s Drew Lock in 2017.

Jordan Watkins, WR, Ole Miss

• Turned in the greatest receiving performance in Ole Miss history in leading the Rebels to a resounding road win at Arkansas.
• Broke Ole Miss single-game records for both receiving yards (254) and touchdowns (5) on eight receptions.
• The five TDs ties the SEC single-game record, and the 254 yards marked the 12th 250-yard performance in league history.
• Three of the five scores came on passes of at least 62 yards, scoring twice from 62 and once from 66.
• Leads FBS with four receptions of at least 60 yards – all for touchdowns.
• Owns seven receptions of at least 60 yards in his Ole Miss career.

DEFENSIVE

TJ Dottery, LB, Ole Miss

• Led the Ole Miss defense and helped ignite the team’s resounding road win at Arkansas.
• Recorded a sack fumble in the endzone that was recovered for the first Rebel touchdown of the game.
• Paced the team with six total tackles and career highs in sacks (2.0) and TFL (2.5).
• Helped direct a unit that posted 13 TFLs and eight sacks.

Chaz Chambliss, LB, Georgia

• Had six tackles, including four solo stops, during Georgia’s 34-20 beatdown of Florida in Jacksonville.
• Finished with 2.5 tackles for loss, including a pair of sacks.
• With the Bulldogs up 20-13 in the third period, sacked Florida’s QB for a loss of three yards and forced a 3^rd-and-14 situation that led to a punt.
• His second sack came in the Gators’ final possession in the fourth quarter and put UF in a 3^rd-and-17 spot.
• Georgia defense held Florida scoreless in the third quarter and to just a touchdown in the final period as the Bulldogs won their fourth straight over the Gators and seventh out of the last eight.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Jesse Mirco, P, Vanderbilt

• Averaged 52.9 yards on a career-high-tying eight punts in Vandy’s victory at Auburn, the Commodores’ first ever at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
• That average ranks second in school history with a minimum of five punts.
• Had a season-best three kicks end up inside the Tigers’ 20-yard line, including two inside the 5-yard line.
• Five punts covered 50-plus yards including two kicks of 60 yards or longer.
• Net 46.8 average was over five yards better than his season figure entering the game.
• Efforts helped the Dores in beating both Alabama and Auburn in the same season for the first time since 1955.

Alex Herrera, PK, South Carolina

• Successfully converted all three of his field goals and all five extra points for 14 points in the Gamecocks 44-20 win over No. 10 Texas A&M.
• The three field goals matched his career high.
• Connected from 25, 44, and 43 yards out.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Torricelli Simpkins III, OG, South Carolina

• Graded out at 88 percent with six pancake blocks and three knockdowns.
• Helped the Gamecocks roll up 530 yards of total offense in the 44-20 win over No. 10 Texas A&M. The Aggies entered the contest allowing just 18 points and 338 yards per game.
• Helped an offensive line that did not allow a sack after entering the contest ranked 132^nd in the country in sacks allowed.
• The Gamecocks had a pair of 100-yard rushers (Raheim Sanders – 144, LaNorris Sellers – 106), for the first time since 2021.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Princely Umanmielen, DE, Ole Miss

• Helped lead the Ole Miss defense and ignite the team’s resounding road win at Arkansas.
• Recovered a first-quarter sack fumble in the endzone for the first Rebel touchdown of the game.
• It marked the first TD of his career and the first by an Ole Miss defender since Jared Ivey’s fumble return at Tulane in 2023.
• Finished with 2.0 sacks for the second consecutive game, giving him 7.5 this season.
• Helped direct a unit that posted 13 TFLs and eight sacks.

FRESHMAN

LaNorris Sellers, QB, South Carolina

• Completed 13-of-27 passes for a career-high 244 yards and 2 touchdowns (15 and 57 yards) in the Gamecocks’ 44-20 win over No. 10 Texas A&M.
• Rushed for a career-high 106 yards on 15 attempts including a 23-yard touchdown that opened the scoring.
• Personally totaled 350 yards of total offense. Texas A&M entered the contest allowing just 338 yards per game.
• Led scoring drives on eight of 14 possessions.
• Led the Gamecocks to 530 yards of total offense against A&M, becoming just the fifth quarterback to have 500+ yards against the Aggies over the last decade, joining Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Tua Tagovailoa, and Bryce Young.
• Gamecocks scored 44 points, 20 more than A&M had allowed in a game all season.

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